


2. IOLAR: Side B

by Ronny Ciccio (IOLAR_EIRE)



Series: IOLAR [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Animated), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 03:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6357349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IOLAR_EIRE/pseuds/Ronny%20Ciccio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A dark figure wanders some abandoned streets at night and enters a strange building.<br/>The newcomer to Gotham has been training for a few weeks and is taking on larger criminal groups.<br/>Wayne industries employ some outside help to solve a particular problem. Perhaps a person with a fresh perspective can help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	2. IOLAR: Side B

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This story takes places a number of week's after No.1. This allows time for iolar to train and also leaves the possibility of placing a story that takes place between the two in here in the future.

Night 1: Central Gotham

It’s a dark night, a lone figure walks down the footpath. There’s nothing in this part of town but abandoned buildings. The man ducks through a gap in a fence surrounding a large yard, there are weeds sprouting up through cracks in the concrete. The yard belongs to a locked up old fire station, long since abandoned when this neighbourhood crumpled to nothing. The windows are stained and the red bricks have turned brown from the weather and neglect.  
The man moves to a dumpster by the side of the building. He gives a wary glance over his shoulders to see that no one is around. He pushes the dumpster and it slides to the side along rails to reveal a lighter patch of the building which hasn’t worn as bad as the rest. He traces his fingers along the lighter patch. 8 across, 3 down.  
He removes his glove and places his palm on an unassuming brick and a horizontal blue line appears on the wall and trails down his palm. The section of wall retracts and slides to the side. The man ducks quickly through the entrance and it seals behind him. The dumpster slides back into place and the building is once again as unassuming as usual.  
The man walks through the decrepit halls of the old firehouse. He descends a set of stairs into the basement. He stops by a large iron door. He places the back of his hand near an old light switch. There is an electronic beep and a small light above the door flicks on. He pushes through the door into a large room. Machinery can be heard whirring in the corner.  
The man snaps his fingers, his middle finger striking a pad on his glove. Fluorescent lights begin to snap into life one row at a time, slowly illuminating more of the room. A large computer screen flashes to life on the far end. It begins to display multiple windows of programs and a map of Gotham City.  
In the corner is a collection of advanced manufacturing machines and a small laboratory. An oven hums softly and dings as a message flashes up on the computer; “Heat treatment finalised. Mk. 43 complete”.  
“Finally, 42 wasn’t the answer I’d hoped it would be” he thinks to himself.  
The man leaves his coat and hat on the table and opens the oven. The warm air breezes past his face and he reaches inside. He pulls from the oven a suit. It is matt black with blue highlights. Plates of armour cover it with a tough woven material between the plates.  
He places it on a stand next to a pair of Bokken in a display case. iolar smiles. The new suit turned out as well as he expected. This will offer him better protection on patrol. He designed the semi-liquid armour to offer the perfect combination of toughness, flexibility and lightness. It took him years to perfect his own design over other existing prototype technologies.  
He checks up on the computer. No serious crimes reported yet. He cycles through different tabs and notices that a software upgrade he had run was finished. He reaches under the computer desk and pulls up an upper mask connected by a cable. He disconnects it and places it on his face.  
The lenses power up and start displaying an information stream from his computer and sensors begin scanning everything around him. This will help him to notice more things. He tests it on his new suit. The mask detects the advanced technology and reads out the toughness of the materials. He can see a unique signature on the suit. It is a sign of the different material and tech composition.  
He smiles and places the mask next to the new suit. Moving up now. Finally have proper gear of my own, now I can start progressing into a better vigilante.  
A small device in his pocket begins ringing. He checks it as a bat symbol flashes on the screen. The big man needs me.  
iolar suits up with his new gear. He hops onto a custom motorbike. He presses a button on the console and a wall lowers to reveal a ramp descending to form an exit. He drives out and the ground closes up behind him.

 

Night 1: Mission Briefing – The Bowery

iolar meets Batman and Robin on a rooftop in a rundown neighbourhood in The Bowery. He recognises the streets below. He can hear the nightclub from here.  
-“New tech?”  
“Yeah, Cyber Monday deal. Even got next day shipping on Amazon. So what’s the plan here?”  
Batman pauses for a moment and continues. “Tough crowd” thinks iolar.  
-“Tonight you are going to take part in your first raid. Follow my orders and everything will work out”  
“Same as usual then”  
Robin butts in “I don’t think he is ready Batman. He has only been with us a few weeks. An operation like this is more complicated than beating a few street thugs.”  
“Thanks for the words of encouragement. You should consider a career in motivational speaking”  
-“Enough. Robin, I am free to choose how I run my operations. iolar has no experience with these missions yet. Which is why I am testing him on a smaller target like tonight.”  
“Ok Batman. Why are we here and what are we doing?”  
-“Tonight’s target is the boss of that nightclub. They have been dealing with the Falcones on weapon shipments. Using a private dock of theirs to bring the merchandise into the harbour.”  
“Ok. So we go in, deal with the security and then grab him for interrogation?”  
-“You will be dealing with security. I will deal with the gang boss. Follow my lead and don’t do anything foolish”  
Robin makes a gesture to show iolar that he will be watching him.  
They make their way to the back of the club. There are two guards on the back door and another patrolling the area. Batman orders Robin and iolar to take care of the patrol. Then he ascends a nearby fire escape.  
Robin hides behind a dumpster and whistles at the patrol. As the guard moves towards the noise and out of the line of sight of the door, iolar lunges from the shadows. He extends his bokken and strikes a gun out of the guard’s hand. He then ducks and spins to swipe the guards feet. Robin leaps over the dumpster and knocks out the guard on the ground by striking him with his long staff.  
iolar makes a light hearted high five gesture but Robin just scowls and proceeds towards the door. “That kid needs a sense of humour”.  
The two guard notice Robin running towards them and raise their weapons. Suddenly a shadow appears over the boy as he moves towards them.  
They look up and suddenly a large black shadow is blocking out the street lamps. Batman glides into them and takes the two thugs down, grabbing them in the face as he lands.  
They slump to either side of the doorway and Batman moves inside. Robin goes in behind him. “Note to self, book paragliding lessons” iolar ponders to himself in amazement as he follows them inside.  
Batman signals to them to take out the guards while he finds the boss like they planned. He slinks into the shadows and he is gone.  
iolar and Robin make their way into to the nightclub from the back halls. It is abandoned apart from the armed guards patrolling the floor.  
A five on the lower dance floor. Eight patrolling the booths and 4 more in the scaffolding above. The lights are dimmed apart from a few coloured lights and they left the music playing. Bad choice, too much distraction. Robin scans the room, then points upwards. iolar takes the hint and ducks back out to find a way up to take the guys out above.  
He finds the door to the scaffolding and crouches down behind the door. He touches the side of his visor and it brings up a short range thermal scan into the area beyond. He can make out a silhouette across from the door and another one farther out to his left. He turns it off and slowly opens the door. The scaffolding is much darker with no lighting and the lights below in stark contrast make it difficult to make out figures. iolar taps another button on his mask and it clears up the darkness near him and he can see his first target.  
He sneaks up behind the guard in front of him and slowly stands up. He moves his hands into position and slowly raises one foot, then snaps into action. One arm locks around the guard’s throat and the other hand covers his mouth. He stamps down on the back of his knee to bring him down. He slowly lowers the guard and holds him until he loses consciousness. One down.  
He begins to move to the left and glances down to see Robin dealing with a guard, three unconscious bodies behind him. The kid’s doing fine. iolar starts moving up on the second guard. But just before he moves in behind him, the guard spots a body down below. He turns around and iolar has to react fast. He quickly disarms him and then he pushes the guard’s head into a railing with a ding. The man stumbles back and iolar quickly follows up with a swift knee to his chin. The guard flips backwards and lands with a thud. Two down.  
Suddenly the mask picks up a movement to his right. His eyes snap to a guard across the room beginning to raise his gun. iolar takes a bokken from his side and faces the handle towards his chin. He presses a button and it extends out towards the target, he is struggling with his sling. He then presses a second button and there is a short phht. A dart races across the room and strikes the guard.  
The guard convulses for a second from the shock and falls to the floor of the railing.  
Robin drops down to the dance floor and is slowly creeping up behind the first guard, when there is a loud clank in the middle of the dancefloor. A gun had fallen when the guard was taken out. The guard turns round to face Robin who grits his teeth and leaps on top of him.  
iolar watched from above as it fell. There goes the stealthy option. He launches a line into the roof and rappels down to help Robin.  
He lands on a guard with a thud and faces his back to Robin.  
“I give you four guards out of the way and you mess it up! I don’t know what he sees in you. This isn’t the first time you’ve alerted someone” Barks Robin as he extends his staff.  
-“Ah come on, that was just bad luck. Give me a break for my first raid. Anyway, now things are interesting” smiles iolar.  
Robin lets out a huff and takes out a guard who lunged at him. iolar ducks below a guard trying to grab him and punches upwards into his stomach. He rolls to the side while extending a bokken and strikes the back of their leg before knocking him out with a punch across the face. He can see the last one moving around behind him with a bat. The thug swings at the back of his head but iolar dips under it and turns around to grab them around the waist while Robin charges up and hits them across the face. iolar releases his grip and they fall backwards.  
-“Well, the training works and our combo takedowns are coming along anyway”  
“Shut up!” Robin retorts.  
iolar shakes his head and laughs it off to himself.  
Then as Robin is walking away, a guard grabs his ankle. iolar then hears a crashing noise and looks up to see a piece of the scaffolding falling down towards Robin. He races into action and dives to tackle Robin out of the way before the scaffolding slams into the ground behind him.  
“Quick reflexes”  
-“Thanks, the new suit is easier to move in.”  
Robin gets up and dusts himself off. They then hear a smashing noise in the corner. The run over to see Batman towering over a man in a suit with smashed liquor bottle pouring onto the floor behind him. The man on the floor is trembling. Batman stands there and just frowns a single word.  
“Where”  
The man stutters a response.  
-“I don’t know anything! I’m just the bar manager, I swear. If you want to know anything, a...ask the boss. He... he’s in his office.” And the man pointed towards a back door beyond the dance floor. Batman stoops over the man who cowers with a scream. There’s a clink and the manager is handcuffed to the bar.  
“The police have a few questions for you about this place”  
Robin and iolar follow Batman up into the Boss’s office. He kicks in the door and walks in.  
There is a well build man in a purple suit behind a mahogany desk facing them. He stands up to face them with a large scenic painting in a gold frame behind him. Crime is clearly a good business for this guy thinks iolar as he observes all the items around the room.  
Batman steps forward and calmly addresses the boss  
“We’re shutting you down. This club has operated too long and the citizens of Gotham have suffered long enough. You’re coming with me to see the commissioner”  
The man in the suit lets off a short, deep laugh and grins back  
-“I’m sure that my associates and I can clear up any misunderstanding. I’ll go to the police station and our Lawyers will show you that we have done no wrong.”  
Batman begins to frown and was about to take a step forward before iolar interrupts.  
-“Batman, there’s something not right here. It looks off.” He had picked up an odd reading on his scanners.  
Suddenly the face of the boss changed from his sly grin to shock and then anger. He lets out a roar and suddenly bursts out of his suit.  
iolar can hardly believe it as he watched the man grow into a 6 foot purple biped alien. He had scales down the front of his torso and jagged extrusions like spikes protruded from his back which rose above his shoulders. He stared at them with three green eyes, grinning slightly through two rows of teeth.  
He quickly reaches down and takes a blaster from his desk and fired at the trio.  
-“You’re not taking me in, Bats!”  
They all sprang into action and dived out of the way, but the shot struck a two way mirror behind them. It shattered and the shards rained down on the heroes as they took cover.  
The alien blasts a hole in roof and then pounces over his desk before jumping up and out of the building.  
“Is everyone alright?” commanded Batman.  
Robin and iolar picked themselves up and both responded with a nod to confirm.  
“You were right iolar” stated Batman, looking up at the hole in the building.  
-“Actually, I wasn’t talking about him. I meant the painting” he responded, pointing to the large frame on the wall beyond the desk.  
Batman ripped it off the wall to find a large door. He took a tool from his belt and broke the lock. The door swung open and he was shocked to find what was inside. Cells of captured women and men. They were weak and dressed in rags. He called the police and emergency services immediately to help them.  
iolar picked up a cracked monitor from the floor and a strange symbol was flickering on it before it died.  
The image was on the screen too briefly for him to memorize it.  
Later they watched from a rooftop outside as the police arrested the employees and guided the freed prisoners under blankets to ambulances. Batman turns to iolar and says:  
“Good work tonight. It goes to show that there is more below the surface than what meets the eye.”  
-“Indeed. Well, that’s enough of a nightly fix of weird for me. I’m off.” iolar descends onto his motorcycle below and drives off into the night.  
Batman turns to Robin and says:  
“I will expect your full report on everything that happened tonight. Looks like we have a new enemy to pursue”

 

Day 2: Wayne tower

A man wrestles with his tie in an elevator. It’s a big meeting today with an important client. He wonders what they want him for. They only said that they want him to complete a new project on the phone with no details. The dinging of the elevator as it gets closer to the floor slows down and they snap back into focus.  
The doors swing open and a well-dressed man is there to greet him. He has grey hair and glasses and smiles as he shakes their hand. He then introduces himself calmly.  
“Hello Mr. Murphy, I am Lucius Fox, head of research and development at Wayne Industries. Mr. Wayne is occupied so I am speaking on his behalf.”  
Mr. Fox gestures to Mr. Murphy to walk with them while they talk.  
-“I had expected to meet Mr. Wayne himself as he personally requested the project but it makes sense that I would be talking with you.  
“I hope you’re not disappointed”  
-“Not at all. I was going to be working with you anyway Mr. Fox, so it’s good to get introduced early. You’ll be able to tell me in greater detail what it is that you want me to do for you”  
“Indeed. We can discuss this further in my office”  
The two men make their way to a large office and Mr. Murphy takes a seat across the desk. Mr. Fox tells his secretary to make sure that they are not to be disturbed and seats back to face his guest. The discussion can now begin.  
“Mr. Wayne has brought to my attention that he would like to do more work in our humanitarian efforts.”  
-“Humanitarian efforts? I am not a logistics manager, Mr. Fox. I am an engineering contractor.”  
“Indeed you are sir. Which is precisely why we would like to hire you for a project. Mr. Wayne would like to develop new technology for humanitarian operations. And you have a reputation for inventing new technologies when existing ones are not successful.”  
-“Well that is why I step outside of the office once and a while. To help other companies start new products if it interests me. What is the project?”  
“He wants Wayne industries to develop a new hazardous environmental suit. Existing suits are cumbersome so aid workers can be in danger from environmental hazards that they cannot avoid. He have tried to make suits which can the user can move faster in, however we cannot maintain proper protection at the same time. We have reached out to a number of experts to see who can invent the new technology. You are one of them”  
Mr. Murphy stood up from his chair and walked to a window beyond to desk.  
-“If you know of my work, you also know of my principles Mr. Fox. This project sounds like something where the technology could be construed and used for military or combat means. Wayne industries has worked with the military in the past. I cannot in good conscience work on any project that could use the technology to hurt or kill people.”  
“I assure you Mr. Murphy, Bruce Wayne has no intention of misusing your work to harm people. The Wayne industries that dealt with militaries is long gone and Mr. Wayne can personally guarantee that any work you do will be used to help people.  
Mr. Murphy turns to Mr. Fox to see if he is being sincere.  
-“Get that in writing and we have a deal Mr. Fox. And if we are going to be working together, you can call me Seb. I’m not a huge fan of formalities.  
“I look forward to seeing your work Seb. Perhaps if we work well together then you may call me Lucius someday. But you can call me Mr. Fox for now” he smiled back.  
They shook hands and Seb left to be on his way.  
After he left, Mr. Fox took out a secure phone from his desk and made a call.  
“Bruce, I have finished talking with contractors. We will see if any of them can design the upgrades to your suit that you requested.”

 

Night 2: Gotham City – High rise apartment

Seb enters into his apartment. It is a suite in a high rise with marble counters and leather furniture. There are large windows with a view of the Gotham City skyline. Seb hangs up his jacket and removes his tie before rolling up his shirt sleeves. He places a contract into a wall safe.  
“ICA, activate the security and secure the living area. I will be working off the secret server.” He commands a console in the wall.  
-“Confirmed. Activating security measure and securing work area.” A feminine voice responds from the console.  
The apartment doors lock up and cameras and sensors begin scanning the apartment and entry points. The windows black out and internal lights come on to illuminate the area. Seb sits on a couch and a large glass table in front of him converts into an interface as the wall in front becomes a large screen.  
He is browsing through files of old projects and opens up a folder containing designs for advanced suits. A schematic appears of an early model.  
This should be an old enough version of my current suit. It is not similar enough and should be able to complete the task. He turns to the wall console:  
“ICA, get a copy of the iolar suit gen 4 schematics and scrub any details from them that can lead back to me. I’ll revise it and submit it to Wayne tech for the project I am working on.”  
-“Editing and copying files now sir”  
“Don’t forget to copy the sig for monitoring. I want to be sure Waynetech is being above board and abiding by the contract terms.”  
Seb walks out of the living room with the lights dimming behind him and into a gym room. He takes a pair of bokken from a weapon wall and begins to train.

 

Night 4: Gotham City docks

Batman and Robin are waiting at the docks atop a crane. Robin is scouting the area with some goggles while iolar joins them and walks up to Batman. He notices some changes in Batman’s suit but doesn’t read it to it too much. He wonders how he can afford constantly replacing his gear. A wealthy benefactor perhaps.  
“You’re late”  
-“Traffic, you know. I don’t know how you get that Batmobile everywhere. And nice new suit by the way. The slightly different shade of black and grey is slimming. I got your message anyway. You have a lead you want to follow?”  
Robin scowls at iolar:  
“Enough of your quips. And maybe if you were a better driver, you wouldn’t have a problem.”  
-“At least I’m old enough to have license”  
“Age has nothing to do with ability!” growled Robin as he leaned towards iolar with a clenched fist before Batman pulled him back.  
“Enough! I am here to stop a criminal, not babysit” he snapped.  
-“Alright, but he started it.”  
Batman gave iolar a dirty look as Robin stuck his tongue at him behind Batman’s back. Batman moved the conversation back on track.  
“Moving on! I have been trying to track that Alien we ran into the other night and I believe that he will be here. There is a suspicious shipment coming in that matches up with how his gang used to smuggle things.”  
-“Ok, so how do you want to handle this?”  
“I want him for questioning. So we take out the guards to isolate him first. Be careful! We will have to avoid that weapon of his. You and Robin will clear the dock while I take care of the boat and vehicles.”  
Batman dove into the water while iolar and Robin started to work on the perimeter guards. They began working their way towards a warehouse that they were unloading from. They took their time to make sure that none of the guards they took out would alert the others.  
Once they got to the warehouse doors they were able to hear the Purple Alien giving commands to his men inside.  
“I want these weapon shipments loaded ASAP. The club lost me a lot of money so I want to be up and running again. And I want that happening NOW!”  
They waited in position outside for Batman’s order. There was only two men left in side with the target. Then they got the transmission.  
“Don’t move! Or do, either way I’m putting you down!” snapped Robin.  
-“I’d listen to him guys, he goes for the shins.” added iolar.  
The Purple Alien commanded his men forward.  
“Take ‘em out! They’re only the sidekicks”  
Robin took offence to the remark and swiftly took out the first. iolar stood firm as he watched the second charging him, and waited. He placed a hand on a bokken handle. Just before the guard reached him, he struck. He could hear him exhale as he jabbed the handle into his stomach. He followed up by hooking him with his left and he was down.  
He started walking towards the Purple Alien.  
-“The Boss man wants a few words.”  
“And where’s he?” retorted the Purple Alien as he slowly started walking backwards.  
-“Above you”  
The alien’s head darted up to see a black boot coming down. Batman landed on his face and sprung backwards off him. The alien began swiping at him but Batman was too quick. Quicker than usual. iolar’s mask began detecting an anomaly. On Batman. iolar marked it down as something to check on later. Apprehending the suspect is the number one priority.  
Batman eventually was able to trip him up. He began to walk up to him but then the alien pulled out the blaster again. Batman rolled to the side before the shot. But it struck a truck in the warehouse behind him. The explosion knocked the trio to the floor.  
iolar began picking himself up, his eyes were still ringing a bit and his vision a little hazy. He could hear Robin shouting in the distance.  
“He’s getting away! Get up and stop him”  
He looked up and could see the alien making a break for his car parked outside. Then Batman confidently replied:  
“No, he’s not” as he reached down to his belt and pressed a button.  
The car burst into a fireball ahead of him and he was thrown back 30 feet into the air. He then crashed into some crates. Batman then placed a metal collar on him.  
The alien let out a groan and tried to get up but Batman just pressed a button on a remote and knocked him back down with a shock.  
“Down boy”.  
He turned to Robin and iolar:  
“You two can wait outside, I have a few questions for this guy before GCPD get here.”  
iolar glanced at one of the broken boxes on the way out and noticed a symbol on it. The same one as the broken monitor.  
Something seemed off about it, so he took a picture of it.  
He waited on the dock with Robin and decided to break the silence:  
-“So, did you learn long division in school yet?”  
“I have studied engineering and physics to a degree level by the time I was 7…..oh, that was your attempt at a joke. I’m not impressed”  
That explains a few things, thought iolar.  
Batman eventually came out of the warehouse. iolar turned to him to ask;  
-“Any info?”  
“They call him Purp. He’s a low level thug for a larger crime group.”  
Purp? He thought, hardly original. iolar refocused himself;  
-“Do we have a name for this group?”  
“No. He wouldn’t tell me.”  
-“He wouldn’t tell YOU? You must be losing that silver tongue, or steel knuckles.”  
“Purp was more afraid of them that me. That is…..disturbing.”  
-“Well there’s no more progress to be made tonight. Might as well call it.”  
“Agreed. Robin and I will wait to debrief the police. They’ll need some help securing this prisoner. I’ll contact you when there is more information”

 

Day 5: Wayne Tower

Second time in Wayne Tower this week, if this keeps up I might have to ask for a car space. Seb can feel his palms getting clammy. He takes a deep breath to relax the small shakes. There’s a lot of thoughts swirling around in his head.  
For a second he wishes he hadn’t looked into it, but then he changes his mind. This meeting will be tough, but will help the future. He loosens his tie a little. Perhaps the elevator air con is faulty.  
The elevator stops and the doors open to reveal a smiling secretary sitting at a desk across from him. Seb walks up to her;  
-“I need you to call Mister Wayne and tell him that I have a few questions about a project that demand immediate answering.”  
The woman is a little shocked, she is not used to strangers demanding an audience with Mister Wayne.  
“I’m sorry sir, he is very busy and is not to be disturbed.”  
-“Tell him that I have concerns that my work is being used to harm people.”  
The lady moved back in her chair in shock;  
“Sir? Waynetech industries would never harm people. Those days are long behind the company. Even since Mister Wayne took ov-“  
-“Just tell him. I will wait. I just need you to make the call”  
The lady picked up the phone and called Wayne. Seb also spotted her press a silent alarm under the desk.  
Two guards appeared behind Seb. He clenched his fist, but he wouldn’t throw the first punch. Didn’t want to meet Wayne under those terms. Just before one of them placed a hand on his shoulder, the office door opened.  
Bruce Wayne poked his head through and addressed the two guards;  
“It’s alright gentlemen. You can come in Mr. Murphy. If you were so desperate for a business meeting, you can usually find me on the green Tuesdays and Thursdays”. Wayne wore his typical business smile.  
-“Sorry for the abruptness but it is a little urgent, Mr. Wayne. I also wouldn’t mind a few public witnesses” grinned back Seb as he followed Wayne into his office.  
Seb checked around and waited for Wayne to take a seat behind his desk.  
“Take a seat Mr. Murphy. I’m sure I can alleviate your concerns.” Wayne gestures to the seat in front of his desk.  
-“No thanks. I would prefer to stand. I assume this room is safe to talk freely without unwanted ears” safer that way he thought.  
“Ok, if you feel that way. You look a little nervous and is your tie a bit loose?” asked a slightly perplexed Wayne. He pressed a button on his desk and the room was locked down for privacy.  
Seb prepared himself, he’s given pitches to billionaire company boards and speeches to crowds on new tech before. Just stick to the results and work it through. He began;  
“I noticed my tech in action, Mr. Wayne. I checked my readings multiple times and they are correct.”  
Wayne sat back in his chairs and held his hands in front of him.  
“I find that quite odd Mr. Murphy. Impossible even. Those designs you gave us are barely finished manufacture. They aren’t even in the prototype lab”  
Seb took a step forward and looked Wayne in the eye.  
-“I am certain Wayne. I sign all my tech. That’s how I can tell if it is ever misused. The signature is invisible to anyone else but my scanners can detect it. And they tell me what project it is from too.”  
Wayne’s eyes widened a little for a split second but he stuck to his stance.  
“I’m not sure what you’ve heard or seen. But this sounds a little out there in terms of technology-“  
-“I came here not to tell you that I know something. I came here to make us equal.”  
“I don’t follow.”  
-“I am iolar. I gave you some of my old tech for our project. Tech I saw in action last night. That is how I know you are the Batman, Mister Wayne.”  
Wayne calmly stood up from his chair and proclaimed with open arms.  
“I have no idea what you are talking about. Now I will forgive you confessing to being a vigilante and will not call the police but I think you should leave.”  
He tried to gesture Seb to the door, but Seb stood firm.  
-“Don’t try to lie, you were on my shortlist for a long time. Last night just locked you in. I didn’t come here for you to try and push me off your scent like an amateur reporter or someone throwing coincidental evidence like a crazy person. I came here because it isn’t right for one person to know the identity of another and not reveal it to them. That’s against my morality. We are all in it together in the good fight. And better to work together without barriers.”  
Wayne let out a sigh and held the bridge of his nose in two fingers. He stayed silent for a moment before walking to face Seb. He extended his hand.  
“I appreciate your honesty. It took guts to come here and reveal yourself. But we’re not equals yet rookie.”  
Seb smiled and shook his hand.  
-“I’ll work on that.”  
“Know that I don’t like people knowing my secret. So you tell NO ONE” Wayne tightened his grip, Seb began to feel a crushing sensation before taking his hand away.  
-“You’re angry that you didn’t figure it out first, aren’t you?”  
“A little. And you just got lucky.” Wayne replied with a smile.  
-“You’re just being sore about it.”  
Seb started walking out but Wayne had one last thing to say;  
“I’m sure you know that I tried to figure out your identity, but couldn’t. You weren’t even on my shortlist anymore as your DNA records and backstory doesn’t match. How did you do it? What is your real identity and history?”  
Seb stopped with the door handle in hand and replied;  
-“That’s a story for another time” and left.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: No.1 and Side B were written a few weeks apart and were both prepared a month or two before posting. A third story is in the planning stage and I have not written a first draft yet. This note will be updated to reflect progress.  
> Update 1: I am hoping to start writing the first draft this week (29 Mar 16).  
> Also, a further 6 stories are planned but are being developed one at a time. So the fourth will be worked on once the third story is finished and so on.  
> Update 2: I started the first draft for the third story but shortly after beginning, I scrapped it.  
> I was unhappy with the writing style so I am figuring out how I want to write it. I haven't been able to put time aside for writing since.  
> But I plan to attempt another first draft soon with my new plan. (27 May 16)


End file.
